Blue River Watershed Group is protecting Summit County rivers from what comes after a wildfire.
Here in Summit the watershed group is writing a Wildfire Ready Action Plan, known as W.R.A.P.
“This is the first step for modeling wildfire hazards,” Reyna Shedler with the nonprofit tells Krystal 93. “These are things like flash flooding, erosion, debris flow, and any of those hazards posed to key community assets, like water supply infrastructure, bridges and culverts, and sensitive ecosystems.”
The 2020 Grizzly Creek Fire in Glenwood Canyon shows how fire is only the beginning. The next summer mud and rockslides coated I-70 and changed the flow of the Colorado River.
The local W.R.A.P. starts with “hazard models” for at-risk drainages, like Straight Creek on I-70 between Silverthorne and the Eisenhower-Johnson tunnels. Two fires have already scorched that drainage since 2021.
“The Blue River watershed as a whole, which is all of Summit County, and also parts of Grand and Lake counties, is a key watershed,” Shedler says. “It’s a tributary of the Colorado River, a water source for Summit County, and also a vital water source for the Front Range. We are spearheading this effort.”
The W.R.A.P. is supported with grant money from Colorado River District, plus stakeholder cash through Summit County government, Denver Water – owner of Dillon Reservoir – and Climax Molybdenum on Fremont Pass.
That is where you come in. On Tuesday, June 17, the watershed group gives a W.R.A.P. presentation to stakeholders and the public. It begins with a deep dive into the hazard models at 3:30 p.m., followed by an open house at 5:30 p.m. Join them at the senior center in Frisco.
Preview image from Glenwood Canyon in 2021 after mudslides coated I-70. A wildfire the previous summer scorched the steep canyon walls, removing natural anchors for mud and rock. Image by Middle Colorado Watershed Council.